This is one time when the Fishing Forecast takes second billing to the weather forecast. I mean, come on, a June nor’easter? The almost daily deluges are roiling most rivers to the consistency of coffee, but the bass are out there and with a recent surge of 15- to 30-pound stripers cruising through the Cape Cod Canal earlier this week, we could have fresh migrants any day. One fish that anglers hope will stay put is giant tuna as some pelagic pursuers are reporting up to three fish per outing!

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Bob Pronk from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle in Marshfield described the giant tuna fishing as incredible. There is often a small window when these fish are available, and the window is open now. In fact Bob told of a patron that hooked three giants recently trolling squid bars by the Golf Ball off the backside of Truro. He also heard from five gentlemen who also scored giants – the way he described it, it sounded like the hamburger chain, “Five guys with…”! The giant bite is on everything from squid bars to live mackerel. An early start helps as fish hunt where depths are referred to in fathoms by night and then rush the shallows at false dawn when their superior vision gives them an edge on their prey. And for a 500-pound tuna, “prey” takes many forms. Squid bars are accounting for a lot of fish, but those live-lining a mackerel under a balloon are also accounting for tuna. Stellwagen Bank is worth checking out as well as Peaked Hill Bar down to Chatham.

There are no shortage of stripers around either as fish flash on sea herring in Plymouth Bay, Duxbury Bay and Green Harbor. Some of the fish are big, with a few 30-pounders caught. Rexhame Beach, the South River, Berks Beach have all been hot. Cod continue to be taken just offshore, with70 feet of water being the sweet spot. Ironically there seem to be more cod inshore than on Stellwagen, plausibly because commercial fishermen are not looking for them there!

Pete from Belsan Bait & Tackle in Scituate said that while some are frustrated, striper sharpies are finding fish up to 30 pounds while drifting with live mackerel on an ebbing tide between the mouth of the North River out to the New Inlet Buoy. There have been some nice bass also taken by those live-lining mackerel near deep-water edges such as the 21 Can; occasionally the cow catchers are surprised by cod that are seeking a mackerel lunch. The flounder faithful are finding that they have to work far harder for blackbacks than in recent years.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

The Hub was definitely the epicenter of the striper excitement north of the Cape during the last week, and as of Thursday morning the bite was still on. Captains Walter Peterson and Russ Burgess tallied ten fish up to the low 20-pound mark while wire-lining bucktail jigs throughout Boston Harbor. The last I heard, mackerel were still easy pickings between Boston Light and Martins Ledge and those live-lining them from Nixes Mate out through the North and South Channels were finding fish up to 30 pounds. Shore guys should could do a lot worse than chunk mackerel or toss an SP Minnow or Savage Manic Prey throughout the 2.6 miles of shoreline.

In spite of the downpours, stripers have still been hanging in there among the river systems. “Lefty Al” took 30 stripers from the Saugus River. Rick Holebrook and Bobby DeVincent found willing stripers in the Lynn Marsh on an outgoing tide that couldn’t pass up a white Magic Swimmer. The Weymouth Back has been giving up stripers that are snacking on fall-back blueback herring.

Cooler water temperatures have curtailed much in the way of a northern movement for black sea bass, but Captain Jason Colby has taken 6 nice tautog so far this season by accident while fishing for flounder – including an 8-pound white chin taken by yours truly! Sadly our principle inshore groundfish, winter flounder, is a much tougher find than in past years with Deer Island Flats being the exception. Alarmingly, the segment of the flounder stock that previously populated the Quincy/Hull side of the harbor has been drastically reduced.

North Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

Noel from Bridge Street Sports in Salem told me that before the torrent, anglers were catching stripers as far upstream into the Danvers River as Salmon Joe’s Restaurant. Flounder have been found near the railroad trestles at the border of Salem/Beverly. There are also a few in Beverly Harbor. They are picking off squid on the piers of Salem and Beverly but the selection of jigs matters. Noel picked up these new Yamashita “solar” jigs that glow after being exposed to a light source and they are accounting for most of the squid.

There are plenty of harbor pollock on the North Shore and when the bass cannot find the mackerel they have no time scoffing down this substitute. Jig up some macks off Nahant, Egg Rock, Swampscott and Marblehead and slowly troll the rocky outcroppings and upwellings that expose hidden ledge. Jimmy from Fin and Feather in Essex told me that the outgoing tide at the mouth of the Essex River has been hot and there have been fish taken from the craggy Cape Ann coast from Manchester Harbor out to the backshore of Gloucester.

Speaking of hot, the shop carries two of the hotter lures on the North Shore – the Backshore pencil and Ocean Lures Sand Eel. I had an opportunity to sample the Ocean Lures Sand Eel with my friend Steve Pappows and the company founder Paul Rogato in leeward section of the Little River recently, and I was duly impressed. Ordinarily I’m a bit insecure working a topwater next to Steve, who is an absolute master at making these lures walk and do everything except talk, but in no time at all I had this lure weaving seductively on the surface. One tip that Paul and Steve drove home is the advantage of a loop knot when working topwater lures of one ounces or less. Clips add weight and stymie the action of smaller surface lures. Learn how to tie a loop knot and you will be amazed how much more action the lure delivers.

School tuna have been occasionally busting bait within view of Andrews Point and Halibut Point.

Liz from Surfland told me that sand eel imitators such as Bill Hurley’s Cape Cod Sand Eel and Ocean Lures Sand Eel are the key to consistent striper fishing from the sand bar facing the ocean front right near the shop. Joppa flats was jumping recently for small boat anglers and kayakers working in tight among the eel grass at night with soft plastic stick baits. The rivers are still producing especially the Merrimack which has fish all the way up to the Lawrence Dam. The bait brigade packing seaworms, clams and chunk mackerel are finding willing fish from the Parker River Wildlife Reservation.

According to Bill from the Yankee Fleet out of Gloucester, the fishing was fantastic until Tropical Storm Andrea blew into town. The trips have been long on cod and heavy with haddock up to 12 pounds! The crew is having to fight through the shorts and bait is working better than jigs. The long-range trips to Cashes Ledge and Fippenies have been awesome with plenty of cod, haddock and on two successive trips – halibut on jigs!

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

Fred from Suds ‘N Soda in Greenland, NH said that fall-back blueback herring are livening up the Lamprey River and other tributaries in the Great Bay watershed. Herring runs have improved in Great Bay, even reclaiming the Winnicut River. Those jigging up mackerel at the mouth of Hampton Harbor and by the 2KR Can are finding stripers nearby sometimes as close as the nearest structure. The beaches are picking up for those soaking seaworms; those same worms are the trick to tempting flounder to bite, according to Tim who works in the shop. He has been taken to drifting along in his kayak and finding plenty of fat flatties in Rye and Hampton harbors.

The recent floods have washed bait and bass out of the Saco River according to Ken from Saco Bay Tackle, but the good news is that they have reassembled in front of the jetty and the adjacent beach. With roiled water from the rain, bait has been best with seaworms, clams and cut bait all getting the nod. Mackerel are an easy find just outside of the bay near the islands with bass sometimes just under the schools. Groundfishermen looking for a grab bag of cod, pollock and haddock should target Tantas on the way out to Jeffreys Ledge. You have find fish and a shorter haul. On the way out see if you can jig up some mackerel, a fresh mackerel fillet is often responsible for the largest cod and you may even haul up a halibut!

Best Bets for the Weekend

If you have the gear and the nerve, the giant tuna bite could still be terrific from the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen out to Peaked Hill Bar. Troll a squid bar until you find busting fish, or try live-lining a mackerel under a balloon. For bass, Boston Harbor remains tops thanks to herring that are keeping the cows in town. Farther north, Lynn Harbor on an outgoing tide has been hot, as has been the mouth of the Essex River. Granite State residents should gather around the tributaries of Great Bay for fall-back herring and feeding stripers. Pollock and mackerel are the key to bass in the Piscataqua River, and in Maine the beaches are fishing best with fresh bait.